Sep 26, 1993 — Kon Ichikawa’s magisterial achievement is a barbed, poignant, and seductive elegy that draws on the skills he acquired over his four-decade career.

Jun 10, 2011 — Bringing Junichiro Tanizaki’s sprawling, elegiac histor­ical novel The Makioka Sisters (1948) to the screen would seem an undertaking tailor-made for Kon Ichikawa. The renowned writer’s work was familiar territory for the veteran director, who had adapted the quirky Tanizaki novella...

The director of Oldboy and Decision to Leave talks about the influence of Ingmar Bergman, his complicated feelings about The Makioka Sisters, the way Mike Leigh works with actors, and his admiration for Don Siegel’s films.

Nov 14, 1995 — Tamura (Eiji Funakoshi), the hero of Kon Ichikawa’s drama, may be the loneliest man in the history of the movies—lonelier than the spiritual pilgrims of Bergman, Bresson, and Dreyer.

Jan 27, 1993 — In beautifully composed black-and-white and tempered by a gentle and nostalgic choral score, Kon Ichikawa's drama probes deeply into the moral chaos of war.

Feb 20, 2018 — In this wildly inventive revenge drama, director Kon Ichikawa blurs the line between stage and screen, infusing kabuki traditions with his own extravagant visual sensibility.

Feb 15, 2017 — Some of cinema’s most revered directors enjoyed extraordinary bursts of creative energy during their twilight years, delivering films that showcase a mastery of the craft they had honed over their long careers. This week on the Criterion Channel, our eight-film...